Samurai Heart
by Skipper Cyba
Summary: The Ronins find they have a new, powerfully ally which might come in handy against the strengthening Dynasty.  But their new friend is nothing like they've expected.  Japanese names used.  Message me if you have questions   Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ronin Warriors / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. Those characters belong to their respective persons. However, Skipper is of mine .

Also, I don't have the Ronins in this first chapter because I felt it would make it took long. They come in, in chapter 2. Any feedback would be great. Please do not say my writing is, for example, horrible without suggesting a way to improve it. Thanks for your time, hope you enjoy the story!

Samurai Heart

Pink and white cover the swaying spring grass as the warm offshore breeze whisks the cherry pedals to and fro. The birds sing sweetly as young lovers walk slowly along the garden path, pausing every so often to exchange thoughts both audible and physical. Such days were a blessing after the harsh winter, a blessing to all but one teenage age girl. She sped around the young couples, disturbing the pedal ground covering as she continued on her course.

Her appearance was disconcerting as well: the tattered coat she wore was full of patched holes and much too small. Long dark brown, almost black locks waved in the breeze as she hurriedly exited the garden and emerged onto the busy sidewalks. After a few turns and street crossings, the teen is found to be hurrying along a dirt road, covering her mouth as dust sweeps up from passing vehicles. A group of boys drives past, hooting and whistling at her as if she were a prostitute. In return she glares at them with her dark brown eyes and continues on her way.

The house was nothing special on the outside. A window in the attic was cracked, the shutters were in disrepair and all of the plants in the little garden were brown and frail. This was to disguise the owner's true wealth. Inside there were rich furnishings from the finest craftsmen in Japan. The fabrics were imported from all over Asia, all in gorgeous colors and designs.

The young woman made her way to the back of the house, entering through a rickety door into the kitchen. Setting her bag on the counter she hung her old coat by the door and slipped on her apron. Returning to her bag, she proceeded to unload the groceries.

"Is that you, Doli?" The master of the house asked from his seat in front of the fire. His hair was graying and his body had become lazy over the years, his eyes were a tricky shade of brown that commanded respect.

"Yes, sir," was her simple, quiet reply as she continued preparing the evening meal. The television could be heard over the boiling water as the newsman described the economic crisis that was a current threat to her master's lifestyle.

His wife sat in a chair besides him; the under worked and well groomed body portrayed her as the wife of a company president rather than a farmer. She grew impatient for supper, calling out, "Doli! Where's my tea!? You know I must have my tea precisely twenty minutes before supper to keep my figure! Doli!"

"Your tea, madam," the servant said quietly as she placed the tray on the end table, pouring the fresh tea into a fragile china cup.

The woman was so startled her black perfectly combed and done up hair nearly turned white. "How dare you frighten me so!" She spat, taking a few deep breathes before reaching for the cup. "How many times must I tell you, Doli? Do not sneak up on me!"

"My apologizes madam, it won't happen again." Bowing, she turned to the man, "Is there anything you would like before I leave, sir?"

"No, that is all for now. You may go." His annoyed tone told both women not to disturb him any longer.

Bowing again she took the tray back into the kitchen.

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"Another five rows!" He yelled from the backroom. "Did you hear me, Doli? Another five rows!"

Exhausted as she was she obeyed her master's wishes. Lifting the steel plow she moved it another five feet, starting the next row for wheat crop. _Why doesn't he buy a tractor?_ Her thoughts echoed as she continued to plow. _I won't be able to get to the market at this rate! How am I going to have time to make food for him and his fat friends?_ The dinner party that night was not something she looked forward to. Its traditional theme required her to dress in an uncomfortable outfit and stand in the room watching the master of the house and his guests eat.

Being lost in thoughts was the worst thing to be caught doing while the master was still around, "Doli!" She heard the whip crack, felt it slice through her back, "Doli pay attention!" Another lash brought her to a screeching halt.

"My apologizes master, I was thinking of everything I needed to get for the event…" she was cut short by the whip.

"When I want your filthy apology, I'll demand for it!" Seeing her cringe at the fresh wounds he swung the leather again. "All of the leftovers from tonight's meal will be for the dogs." He wrapped up his weapon and went inside; patting his two overweight dogs along the way.

Gingerly she rose from the ground, feeling the blood trickle down her back as she finished plowing the field. She was all but numb when she returned the plow to the barn. In the hayloft, she found another shirt and headed for the kitchen.

"Where in the hell do you think you're going?!" The master of the house yelled from the edge of the field. "I want wheat growing here now!"

"Sir… the market…"

"You can play around at the market after I have my wheat, Doli! I know your secret, remember? I own you, so do as I say! Unless you didn't learn…" He unraveled his whip.

She bowed, as painful as it was to do so, and returned to the field. Sitting on the cold, damp earth she let her mind wander deep into the soil. There were thousands of seeds in the rows she freshly plowed, making the spread of her power deathly thin. It took a few moments for her to find the strength to will the seeds to sprout. Sprouting seeds was the hardest part of this process and required a great deal of concentration. After some tense moments, she relaxed. When she opened her eyes the wheat had grown four feet tall and continued to grow to their full height as she headed towards the market three miles away.

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There were many friendly faces at the market. The shop keepers all knew her by name and greeted her warmly as she came by their stand. "Good afternoon, Skipper! You're a bit later than usual." The butcher called from behind the counter. "No matter, I still have my best cuts for my favorite customer! What can I get you today?" He was a kind man, always smiling as people passed by. Eying her armload, he laughed, "So the Utadios are having another feast are they? I know just what you need!" Reaching under the glass, he pulled out the largest four fishes along with five pounds of his best beef. As he was wrapping up the meats he noticed a streak of blood on the back of her coat. _He's beating her again._ "Here you are miss. Would you like me to fetch my boy to help you carry all that home?"

"No thank you. I would rather not take him away from what he's doing." Skipper politely answered. Taking the package she headed out of the shop.

"Poor thing, please take care of yourself Skip," he whispered under his breath as she passed the doors leading out into the street.

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"How delightful! You really do think of everything Mister Utadio!" The mistress of his guest was charming; her gown was a stunning ruby color which accented the ruby pieces in her hairpieces.

Skipper stood in the corner dressed in an ancient robe. The white paint on her face marked her as a servant, a slave that could not speak but was forced to listen to the idiotic conversation at the table. As plates and glasses were emptied, she cleared the dishes and brought out the next course or filled the half empty glasses with more wine. The evening continued in such a manner for hours as the four at the table discussed everything from past memories to current events. Each hour that passed made their servant weaker, never having had the time to properly bandage her wounds.

Finally the evening was coming to a close. The guests headed for the door as Skipper helped them with their coats, a bit unstable as they staggered to their car. "We simply must do this more often, Mister Utadio!" The mistress called from the car as it pulled out of the driveway.

Mr. Utadio simply smiled and waved, bracing himself on the door jam. When they couple were out of sight he returned to his chair by the fire with his wife. Skipper had then went to the kitchen and started on the dishes, placing the scraps in the dog food dishes. She wasn't very hungry after seeing how they ate. Once the cleaning and preparations for the morning were complete, the dark haired girl made her way back to the hay loft. She washed the paint off her face, only to find it was just as pale with or without it. Bandaging her wounds was more difficult than she had anticipated, however. After awhile Skipper just gave up and allowed her torn body to drift into a dreamless sleep.

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"Doli!" Mr. Utadio's voice yelled. He was still hung over from the party earlier that evening, "Doli! Get over here!"

The slave didn't even bother changing out of her night shirt, but ran to her master still pulling on her coat. "Sir," she bowed as a chill wind ruffled her clothes.

"The field…Doli the field's on fire. Put it out!" He hiccupped throughout his sentence and as she looked over at the field, there was no fire to be seen.

"Sir there is no fire to put out."

"Are you calling me a liar?! I am your master!" He grabbed Skipper's shoulders forcefully then tossed her towards the field. "You ungrateful orphan! I took you as my own, clothed you, feed you, put a roof over your head! My sister was right to say you'd be of no use to me! I should have just left you with her in her house of delinquents!" Mr. Utadio kicked dirt in her face and was working to spit when a primal urge overtook his senses. He eyed her youthful skin, took in full her long slender body… Without warning he was on top of her, pounding the girl into the ground in a drunken rage.

"Sir no! Stop! What are you doing? Sir please!" Skipper screamed at him as she fought to get free, but it only made the beating worse.

Her vision was blurring as the master of the house continue his assault. _I have to get away before he kills me! But how? As much as he deserves it, I don't wish to harm him._ Another powerful shove into the ground joggled her memory. _That's it!_

The spell was cast with just seconds to spare. Mr. Utadio froze like a statue over her, a menacing smile on his face. Skipper crawled out from under him and pushed her gown back into place, "That paralysis spell will not last long Mr. Utadio. If you can hear me, know that I will destroy you if you try this again." Picking up her coat she returned to the hay loft. There, she changed into a pair of forest green pants, cream shirt and sage bodice. Pulling on her brown cloak and boots she raced down the stairs and out of the barn. The yells of puzzlement and rage of her master were drifting farther and farther into the distance as she ran deeper into the woods.

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	2. Chapter 2

--Sorry, meant to get this chapter up last week before I went on vacation. Oh well, guess I'll just have to give ya 2 for the price of 1 to make it up to you . Thanks for the feedback Harry, I really appreciate it I just hope I didn't scare people away with such a long first chapter...I'm trying to break them up a little, but I'm revamping an old story and writing it at the same time...fingers have a mind of their own

---Also, didn't use White Blaze's Japanese name because I'm too lazy to type it all out, sorry vv. Enough of my yapping, on with the story!

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Blackness…vast, soundless, no gravity… Reality had floated away from him hours ago as coconsciousness became the sleep his body craved. He wasn't missing much, the material being covered that day in calculus was hardly difficult to comprehend…for him anyway. The extra winks felt great, especially after such a long night dealing with the Dynasty. _I can't believe how strong Arago and his armies have become! I wonder if it has anything to do with that Syxe from before…_

A sharp kick from under his seat warned him of the approaching professor. Quickly he scanned the board and tried to tidy up the papers on his deck. "So nice of you to join us, Mr. Hashiba." Professor Tanaka was obviously annoyed with his student, "Now that you are revived, will you be so kind as to complete the problem addressed during the lecture?"

Even though Touma never heard the question, the figures on the board told him exactly what to say, "The sine of π/3 subtracted from the sine of π/4 is equal to 1.5, Professor Tanaka."

"Correct Mr. Hashiba. I do not want to catch you sleeping in my class again. Now does everyone understand how Mr. Hash…" Touma tuned him out as he lectured the rest of the class.

"Touma!" Seiji whispered from behind him. "What is with you today? You were nearly suspended just now!"

Touma turned slightly in his seat to address his friend, "I don't know, just tired I guess. It's been a long day."

"And an even longer night," the blonde smiled, "How did it go with Ami?"

Touma thought he'd never been more relieved as the bell rang. "I'd rather not talk about it here." They both moved towards the door and out into the over crowded hallway.

Seiji could tell by the look on Touma's face what had happened earlier, "Don't let it get you down Touma. There are other fish in the sea." He gave his friend a small smile before heading towards the literature wing.

_ That's easy for you to say, Seiji Date. Girls flock to you._ Touma shook off the thought as he entered the boy's locker room. His locker door was open and had a pail of water perched above it. This was no surprise to the blue haired teen, because a new kid, an American named Jason, always tired to fool him with these ridiculous tricks. _When will you leave me alone Jason?_ Removing the bucket he proceeded to get ready for gym.

The class was running laps around the track outside for the third time this week. A brown haired boy flocked by girls looked very disappointed when he noticed a non-wet Touma racing around. "Don't worry Jason," one of the girls walking with him said, "You'll get him next time."

The runt smoothed back his greasy brown curls, "I know Hoshi, that's nothing to worry your little head over."

"I'm not Hoshi, I'm Yumi!"

"Of course you are." He tickled under her chin, "I was just saying that, that smurf can't avoid me forever."

"Smurf?" Another one of his followers asked, "What's a smurf?"

"You are a funny bunch aren't you?" Jason flashed his cheesy smile which somehow stole every girl's heart in the school. Looking at his watch he stopped, "Would you look at the time! School's almost out for the day!"

Touma made another lap as he saw Jason and his 'pack' slowly make their way to the locker rooms. _What could they all possibly see in him? I would hope they had better sense then to fall for such a slob! There's no way he actually cares for any of them, he's too self-centered._ No matter how much he scorned the American, Touma couldn't help but be a tad jealous. After all, Jason had just started school no more than two months ago and already had girls flocking to him. Touma on the other hand, could hardly keep a relationship going for less than half that time. Seiji had set him and Ami up three days ago and already she had dumped him. _Ami wasn't my fault._ Touma thought as he was changing in the locker room. _She was only going out with me to be near Seiji and was terribly annoying. It was for the best._

The bell finally rang, dismissing class, and Touma quickly gathered his backpack before heading out into the parking lot where his friends would all be waiting. "Come on Touma, hurry up!" They called from the red jeep, the engine already started. He smiled as he jumped into the back seat.

"So…" Shu started, wanting some conversation during the ride home, "I heard Ami dumped you this morning."

"Shu!" Shin jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.

"It's okay, Shin," Touma replied. "Yeah she dumped me, but it wouldn't have been much longer before I broke it off."

"Why's that?" Ryo turned around in the front seat, "I thought you liked her."

"Dude, did you ever hear her laugh?" Shu tested his skills of impersonation, "Oh Touma," he began in a high pitched girly squeal, "That movie was so funny! Woo hee woo hee woo hee!"

They were all laughing by the time Seiji pulled the jeep into the manor's driveway. "All right you howling buffoons." Seiji parked and exited the vehicle. "I don't know what you're planning on doing, but I'm going to my room to get this ridiculous homework done."

"It's more like you're going to talk to you _girlfriend_ on the phone," Ryo teased.

Seiji was about to smack his black haired friend when he saw a much better way of come back rounding the corner. "White Blaze! Ryo has some tuna flavored snacks for you!"

Shin was immediately offended and looked at Ryo in shock, "You have what?! Ryo Sanada you better not!"

"I don't, really Shin I…" But it was too late; the tiger had already pounced on him, searching for the treats. "White…Blaze," Ryo tried to push the tiger away, "I…don't…have…anything…for…you…Get…off…" White Blaze searched a few moments more, hoping to find something that may have been hidden then reluctantly got off the teen. Disappointed, he walked around to the back of the house. Grumbling, Ryo got up and dusted himself off, "Seiji I outta…"

"Uh Ryo?" Shu interrupted, "Seiji's long gone."

Touma watched as the dirt-smudged boy walked angrily into the living room and plopped himself onto the couch. Not wanting to deal with his grumpy friend, he closed the door and walked up the stairs to his room. Touma was still exhausted from the night before and was extremely thankful to have the first room on the right.


	3. Chapter 3

A soft, gentle breeze caressed the earth as the warm sphere in the sky cast down its rays of pleasure. An excellent day to be outside hiking, playing sports, or in Touma's case: the perfect day to head out to his makeshift archery range in the woods. His ears enjoyed the pleasant sounds of the wildlife as he passed the swaying trees. A smile crossed his face when he came upon the clearing and saw his paradise of wood bocks. _Thank goodness! I thought that last storm had destroyed all of my targets!_

The English legend of Robin Hood filled Touma's mind as he lifted his bow and pulled back the feather fletching. The swish of the arrow as it flew away thrilled Touma; watching it pierce through the bull's eye of his farthest target wasn't half bad either. The Air Ronin soon became lost in his own happy fantasy, pretending he was competing against Japan's finest, or imagining he was on the field of battle with his friends fighting the Dynasty. Each loosed arrow found a home in one of the Dynasty soldier's weak points. Touma was so engrossed in his delusion, that when he heard someone coming up the path behind him, she shot off a round of his ammunition.

Ducking behind an oak, Ryo just missed getting pinned by the swift shafts. "Touma! Touma it's me, Ryo! Stop shooting at me will ya?"

"Ryo?" The breeze blew his bangs away from his face to reveal a slightly unnerved, black haired boy peeking out from a tree trunk. His exhilarating illusion was destroyed, snapping the youth back to his run-down archery range in the woods. "Oh, sorry about that Ryo. Guess I got a little carried away."

"Obviously," his friend said as he came away from his wooden shield. "I was wondering where he disappeared to. If White Blaze hadn't tracked you down I would've never found you."

"Little traitor," Touma whispered as he shook his head. "Anyway, why were you looking for me?"

Ryo shrugged as he leaned against an old wooden post. "Just something to do. I really don't remember anymore."

"Where's Shu?"

"With his family for the weekend."

"Shin?"

"Volunteering at the aquarium."

"And Seiji is…wait don't tell me…He's out with Bei." Touma rolled his eyes and added with a sarcastic tone, "Which leaves me with Ryo Sanada, I must be the luckiest person alive!"

"Hey!" The teen tossed a stone in Touma's direction. "I'm not that bad!"

Catching the pathetic pebble, Touma playfully tossed it back, "I'm kidding you tiger whisperer."

"Tiger whisperer! I'm not a tiger whisperer!" Ryo dodged the rock, "If your father adopted a tiger cub into the family when you were a kid, you'd be able to understand him as well as I do too."

"Sorry, I didn't get such a luxury. I had a mad scientist for a father, remember?" He began retrieving his arrows as the sun shined brightly with its afternoon rays. "I think my targets have just about had it."

"Just about?" Ryo stood up and walked over to one of Touma's wooden creations. "I think they use these things for stunts in action movies. They're hardly standing as it is."

They both laughed as one of the arrows Touma pulled out broke off half the target as well. The laughter echoed throughout the woods, bouncing off trees as a rubber ball would. That's when the two realized how quiet it had gotten. The birds were dead silent; the air didn't dare move, almost as if the entire world went mute in an instant. The two had experienced this gut feeling of danger before, it was unmistakable…the Dynasty.

"Ryo…" Touma looked at his companion, as the sky suddenly grew dark.

"We'd better armor up, while we still can." Ryo didn't return his friend's gaze; he didn't want him to know that he was also nervous about the upcoming battle. A few years ago, such an occurrence would hardly faze them, but now that the Dynasty has gained so much power, it was becoming more and more difficult to defeat them.

Pulling out their armor orbs, they were covered in a slow glow as their under gear appeared on them. Wasting no time, they each called out the incantation that brought forth their mystical armor. Once again the brilliant light enveloped them, diffusing to reveal heavy battle armor, and not a moment too soon.

"Long time no see Ronins," the grueling voice sounded. "I see you're as skitterish as ever."

Ryo drew his katanas, "Show yourself demon!" he demanded.

"Now is that a way to greet old friends, Ryo of the Wildfire?"

"It is when there's low-life like you about, Anubis!" Touma answered.

"Ah, Touma of the Heavens! Oh my, am I in for a treat today!" The voice laughed. "So where are the other Ronins? At home snoozing?"

"Shut up Anubis! I'm tired of listening to you stall! Come out and fight like the worm you are!" Ryo scanned the trees around them as he tried to figure out where the warlord was hiding.

"As you wish, _Ronin_," Anubis said the word in disgust, "I am closer than you think, fifty feet in front of you at most. Come and get me!"

"It's probably a trap, we should...Ryo? Ryo no!" But Touma's wisdom came too late, for the hot-tempered youth was already running into the woods toward the cliff. Having no other choice, he pursued him, unknowing of the shadow that silently followed.

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--Don't you just hate cliffhangers? Ok, this isn't my best one, but hey I tried. Keep reading because the next chapter is a real shocker! .


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